Western Jihadism: A Thirty Year History

A conversation with Professor Jytte Klausen about her new book, ‘Western Jihadism: A Thirty Year History’, which charts the development of Al-Qaeda’s growth in the West.

In forensic and compelling detail, Professor Jytte Klausen shows how Islamist terrorism in Europe and North America has been driven, not by local grievances of Western Muslims, but by the strategic priorities of the international Salafi-jihadist revolutionary movement. That movement has adapted to Western repertoires of protest: agitating for armed insurrection and religious revivalism in the name of a warped version of Islam.

Nigeria’s Northern Elders Forum: Keeping the Igbo is Not Worth a Civil War

On June 9, following a closed-door meeting, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) issued a public statement that the Igbo-dominated southeast should be allowed to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria if it was necessary to avoid a civil war. NEF spokesman Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said “the Forum has arrived at the difficult conclusion that if support for secession among the Igbo is as widespread as it is being made to look, and Igbo leadership appears to be in support of it, then the country should be advised not to stand in the way.” His statement continued that secession was not in the best interest of the Igbos or of Nigerians. Rather, all should work to rebuild Nigeria. But, blocking secession “will not help a country already burdened with failures on its knees to fight another war to keep the Igbo in Nigeria.” The statement also suggested that northerners subject to harassment in the southeast should return to the north. There was no reference to secessionist sentiment in Yorubaland, in southwest Nigeria, to which former President Olusegun Obasanjo has referred. The former president said that Yoruba secession, too, would be unwise, but that maintaining unity should not come “at any cost.”

Orban’s Anti-LGBTQ Law Crosses a Red Line for Europe

Violations of democratic norms by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban are nothing new, but the explosion of anger in Europe against the anti-LGBTQ law just approved by the Hungarian parliament, dominated by Orban’s Fidesz Party, suggests Orban has crossed a critical red line.

The Syrians of Denmark…An Experience that Hurts Twice

Our colleague Odai Al Zoubi wrote the following on his Facebook page: “The real tragedy for the Syrians in Denmark is that not being expelled back to Syria means that they will remain imprisoned in Denmark, under the mercy of a fascist, ignorant and chauvinistic group of politicians. The Syrians in Denmark’s tragedy is not their expulsion to Syria; it is their lives in Denmark!”

Algérie: Oran, point de transit de la cocaïne vers l’Europe ?

L’interception de près d’une demi-tonne de cocaïne au large d’Oran fin juin rappelle d’autres affaires de saisies de stupéfiants dans la région. Dont celle mettant en cause Kamel Chikhi, alias « le boucher ».

La chambre d’accusation près la cour d’Alger s’est penchée, ce 30 juin, sur l’affaire des 701 kg de cocaïne saisis, le 26 mai 2018, sur le navire MC Vega Mercury, en rade au port d’Oran, après trois ans d’une enquête judiciaire en dents de scie. Elle a notamment validé l’instruction autour de l’affaire, mais sans lever le voile sur les circonstances de l’introduction de cette quantité historique de drogue saisie. L’accélération de l’examen du dossier intervient après l’interception, dans la nuit du 26 juin au 27 juin, par les garde-côtes, de 490 kg de poudre blanche flottant sur l’eau, au large de la côte oranaise.

Pas moins de 442 plaquettes couvertes de sacs gris et noirs attachés par des cordes à des bouées avaient attiré l’attention des pêcheurs, qui ont donné l’alerte. Sans doute larguées par les narcotrafiquants, informés de l’imminence d’un contrôle du navire sur lequel était transportée la cocaïne.

Le réseau des narcotrafiquants n’a pas été neutralisé dans son intégralité, en dépit de multiples arrestations

Echilibrul militar al Europei de Est se răstoarnă! O mică țară europeană devine primejdioasă pentru vecinii ortodocși

Pe vremea lui Ceaușescu, circula un banc despre armata albaneză. Se spune că puterea de foc a antiaeriei din această țară se rezuma la semne amenințătoare făcute cu degetul către piloții inamici. Astăzi, însă, lucrurile sunt pe cale să se schimbe spectaculos, iar țărilr vecine, de pildă Grecia sau Serbia, simt presiunea.

Germany’s Ban of the Hamas Flag: “A Superficial Measure”

German lawmakers said that banning the Hamas flag was aimed at sending “a clear signal” of support “to our Jewish citizens.” Others, however, dismissed the ban as an empty gesture aimed at silencing critics of the German government’s pro-Islamist foreign policy ahead of upcoming federal elections this September.

MONUSCO patrols top the 23 000 mark in four months

Now in its 11th year, the United Nations mission in the conflict riddled Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues its unabated efforts to protect civilians and work toward peace, engaging with any number of local stakeholders as well as regional and continental blocs and bodies.

One example of the commitment shown by MONUSCO, the French acronym for the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC, comes from a report prepared by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ staff.